Winning the hard way

Irish pull away from USC

Irish pull away from USC

November 28, 2005|FORREST MILLER Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- So many huge plays by so many different people -- that's what made Notre Dame women's coach Muffet McGraw happiest. The 14th lead change of the day, created from a Megan Duffy jump shot with 7:21 to play Sunday at the Joyce Center, gave the Irish a shove toward their fourth victory of the women's basketball season, 73-62, over Southern California. The score was identical to the Irish victory on USC's last visit, Dec. 22, 2003. But an 11-point blowout this was not. Notre Dame trailed by eight in the first half and by three, 54-51, with barely more than nine minutes to play. But down the stretch various Irish players made major contributions. Despite missing five consecutive free throws starting at the 1:44 mark, Notre Dame turned it around and made six of its last seven. A jumper from the top of the circle by Charel Allen made it 58-54 with 4:47 to play. There was a full-court power drive by Lindsay Schrader with 2:29 to play giving the Irish a 65-60 lead. With 2:12 left, a steal and lay-up by Duffy made it 67-60. And while all this was going on, Melissa D'Amico was on her way to her first double-double of her career with 13 points and 10 rebounds -- both career highs. Duffy turned in another All-American type 40-minute performance -- 19 points on 6-for-16 shooting (3-for-8 on threes), a perfect 4-for-4 at the free-throw line, six assists, six steals and just one turnover. With Tulyah Gaines benched with a bum ankle, McGraw's rotation included only seven players. And the two non-starters, Charel Allen and Courtney LaVere, were both superb. LaVere shot 7-for-11, including a 4-for-4 start with her favorite spin-around shot in the middle of the USC zone. LaVere has made a successful transition from starting to coming off the bench this season. "I know what I'm doing, I was able to find the gap in the zone. I know what I'm looking for,'' said LaVere, a senior co-captain. Allen tallied 13. The only problem with her surgically-repaired knee, she says, "is that this brace keeps slipping down.'' The Irish had 29 points from non-starters after collecting 30 in the victory at Indiana Wednesday. Breona Gray had a career high eight rebounds. "We battled the whole game,'' said McGraw. "We couldn't make a free throw. We couldn't get a rebound. Melissa's double-double was hopefully the first of many.'' Twenty turnovers -- eight by Schrader and five by Crystal Erwin -- were too many for Notre Dame. McGraw knew going in that rebounding would be a problem. USC's margin was only 44-43, but that included 21-11 on the offensive side. "You won't win a lot of games giving up 21 offensive rebounds,'' noted McGraw, pleased to see four of her players scoring in double figures. Chloe Kerr led the Women of Troy with 15 points and had a game high 11 rebounds. "We did the things we needed to do, except for shooting a higher percentage, to stay in the game,'' said USC coach Mark Trakh, the only male women's head coach in the Pac 10. "We knew we would need to get a lot of offensive rebounds. But Notre Dame was able to execute better in the last two minutes, and that was the difference,'' added Trakh, his team now 2-2. "We definitely took a step up from our loss at Long Beach Wednesday.'' A six-point spurt in 43 seconds -- a lay-up by Allen, a jumper by LaVere and lay-up by Duffy tuned a 43-42 deficit into a 48-43 lead with 13:45 to play, But USC responded with a 6-0 run of its own for a 49-48 lead. A 3-pointer from Duffy with 11:43 put the Irish ahead, but only for a few seconds. The visitors led, 54-51, before a D'Amico lay-up at 8:01 followed by Duffy's at 7:21 gave the Irish the lead for good. USC went almost five minutes without scoring before Kerr made two free throws with 4:26 remaining. Panther kin returns The daughter of former Washington High School star Floyd Kerr, USC's Chloe Kerr said she still has family in South Bend and returns here every time she gets to her Chicago-area home. "My dad doesn't say much about his high school days, but others have told me a lot,'' said Kerr.